Well, I can’t help but to notice that I haven’t written a field journal entry since May. Why? Well, I’ve been leading summer camps non-stop. It’s been such a great summer. A big thank you to all of you who participated.

I have had so many highlights this summer. Here are some of my many favorite moments:

* Watching a group of otherwise fairly rambunctious, 8 year old boys, go totally silent for over a half an hour, stalking up to bullfrogs. I even filmed a bit of this and may post it at some point. It really was incredible to watch them tell each other to be quiet and share techniques of stalking without any prompting from me.

*Finding colored rocks and mud to make into face-paint and getting totally camouflaged, with redwood duff galore in order to play some epic games of capture the flag and learning how to blend into the forest.

*Listening to a group of 20 kids in between the ages of 6 and 10 all be completely focused on singing the fire making song, and visualizing the fire so that we could successfully make a fire by friction.

*Watching six year olds make their own ice cream and getting it all over their faces when eating it. And having one of them turn around to say “this is the best camp ever!”

*Witnessing my student of four years, who is now my teen assistant, be able to lead a group in so many activities with great success and awesome response from the kids.

*All the animals that joined us. Telling a story of a mouse family and then finding a dead mouse right afterwards. Finding a nice burial spot for a gopher snake hit by a bicycle and then seeing a live gopher snake in the same spot the next day. And all the other amazing animal mysteries.

Such a great summer. I hope the kids continue deepening their relationship with nature this year and that I get to see them all next year again.